The present subject matter relates to a ski carrier clamp mountable on a cross bar of a vehicle roof carrier.
Vehicle roof carrier systems for transporting winter sport gear have become increasingly popular. Such carrier systems typically comprise cross bars onto which ski carrier clamps can be mounted for fixing the winter sport gear to the vehicle roof carrier system. Known prior art ski carrier clamps essentially comprise an elongate base part and an elongate top part hingedly coupled to the elongate base part. In a locked condition, the elongate base part and the elongate top part extend substantially parallel and allow clamping of winter sport gear between the same. In order to insert winter sport gear into the ski carrier clamp, the elongate top part is rotated into an open position about a hinge. After that, the winter sport gear to be transported, a pair of skis, for example, is placed on an upper surface of the elongate base part and the elongate top part is brought into a closed position in which it is interlocked with the elongate base part. By this, the winter sport gear to be transported is fixedly held between the elongate base part and the elongate top part.
The above mentioned prior art ski carrier clamps have the following drawbacks.
First of all, the prior art ski carrier clamps comprise a certain height and consequently a comparatively large surface oriented in the driving direction of the vehicle. Therefore, the wind resistance of such prior art ski carrier clamps is comparatively large.
Another drawback of the prior art ski carrier clamps resides in the mounting of the same on the cross bars of a vehicle roof carrier. In known mounting solutions of the prior art ski carrier clamps, the ski carrier clamps are mounted on the cross bars by means of screws which need to be fixed in the elongate base part of the ski carrier clamps. In order to access the mounting areas provided for that purpose on the elongate base part, it is necessary to easily access these portions for mounting purposes. On the upper side of the elongate base part, flexible members are typically provided in order to provide a flexible support for the winter sport gear to be transported. According to the prior art solutions, in order to provide access to cross bar attachment screws, the flexible members provided on the elongate base part need to be specifically shaped or provided with recesses or no flexible member is provided at all in these portions leading to a smaller supporting length. In this connection, known prior art ski carrier clamps have two portions for accessing the cross bar attachment screws located on both sides of the flexible member provided thereon. That leads to a configuration in which the screws are very close to the ends of the ski carrier clamp making it difficult to operate the same and, furthermore, the flexible members provided on the elongated base part cannot extend over the entire length of the elongate base part leading to a loss of usable supporting surface.
A further drawback of the prior art ski carrier clamps is the inferior behavior in situations, in which strong forces occur, for example in crash situations.
It is the object of the invention to further develop a ski carrier clamp such that the above mentioned drawbacks are overcome.